Willie Docherty

With Scottish winters becoming colder, Congress set out an agenda for a balanced energy policy in the UK, aiming to reduce energy consumption and investing in renewable energy generation.

This was alongside measures to achieve clean coal and carbon capture storage.

UNISON's Willie Docherty, an energy worker, supported the the Paisley and Distruct TUC motion saying, "The threat of climate chaos is very real. It's not just a slightly sunnier Scotland.

"It's flash floods, it's rising sea levels, it's drought and famine".

People are aready suffering and "as ever the poorest and most vulnerable will be the biggest victims if we don't take meaningful action".

Willie stressed that around the world climate change action is linked to justice and development issues. "These are core issues for trade unionists", he said.

UNISON Scotland, as part of the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland Coalition, pushes hard for legally binding international commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"We are proud that Scotland has world leading targets and public bodies have a duty to meet those targets, but targets are not enough", he said, calling for real action.

"For our children's sake we must keep up the pressure on politicians to implement policies that will avert catastrophic climate change. Don't let them say we can't afford it. We can't not afford to do this."